


fall to pieces

by youchuu



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: Androids, F/F, Post-Apocalypse, kind of a weird love child of melty fantasia and world changer, more tags to be added later probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 19:07:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30076959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youchuu/pseuds/youchuu
Summary: break up, come apart, or disintegrate. (of a person) lose one's capacity to cope.
Relationships: Akizuki Ritsuko/Hoshii Miki, Akizuki Ritsuko/Kisaragi Chihaya
Kudos: 2





	fall to pieces

_“You’re not authorized to do that! I demand you cease this at once!_ **_Stop it!_ ** _” My voice trembled, but in my current state, there was little I could do. My body would no longer move, and indeed had not for many years. My age as a machine had gotten the better of me, and so had she. I was powerless to stop her…_

* * *

I first awoke when the sun was high, on a nameless day in the hot season. So hot, in fact, that I wished that I were human and capable of sweat. My body only laid there, whirring from the internal cooling system struggling to keep a stable temperature. I still could not move, both by virtue of my rusted joints and the pile of debris surrounding me on all sides. How long had I slept there, beneath the ruins of my headquarters? How long had it been since Serika betrayed me?

The dirt and rocks crumbled and pitter-pattered down to the tune of the rattling slabs of concrete and metal. They shook and were slowly shoved aside, exposing me to a single beam of blinding light. I hardly dared to open my eyes.

“Hey, there’s something here. Or more like, someone?”

“There shouldn’t be. This building has been closed off since before the collapse.”

I didn’t say a word. In the past, I had entrusted Serika with my eyes and ears, believing that with her range of movement she could fulfill that role far better. But she’s gone now; it’s all gone. My carefully laid plans were all in vain, and so I laid there in this strange world and listened.

“This steel bar is way too heavy…” the first voice huffed, and continued to struggle. I wondered why she was going through so much effort just to unbury me.

“Let me help,” said the second voice, and the thin beam of light grew until it bathed the inside of what had been my grave. Cautious, I opened my eyes to a squint and peered upward. Above the rocks, the dirt, and the concrete jutting into my hip were two human girls. Women, maybe? It was difficult to discern their ages, especially since my lookup software was all offline. I had always relied on my databases to analyze situations, and without that…

“Good morning.” Wait. I know that voice. My eyes widened, taking in this person I was certain was dead. Wasn’t she ill? Didn’t Serika kill her along with the others? That straight dark hair pulled into a neat ponytail and those slim features and sharp brown eyes… My head spun. This wasn’t possible.

“Chihaya?” I croaked out, voice weak from disuse.

Silence stretched on for a moment too long, and I wondered if they’d understood me. But sure enough, she spoke, “How do you know my name…?” There was a disconcerted, fearful look on her face. If it were truly the Chihaya I knew, she would have recognized me already. She wouldn’t be playing dumb. But then, why…?

I cleared my throat of dust as best I could, and coughed out clouds of it. “How long has this building been in ruins?” A pointed question, whose answer would determine how long I’d been unconscious.

They glanced at each other, but it was the blonde who answered me. There was a concerned lilt to her voice. “The collapse happened around seventy years ago, right? I dunno the details, but it’s gotta be around that or longer.” She spoke nervously, as if she were afraid to startle or upset me. As if there’s anything I could do in my shock.

Seventy years. Seventy years, I’d been lying broken and out of power in this pile of rubbish. Everything I knew about the world was more than likely vapor. I closed my eyes briefly, exercising my one remaining act of free will. When I opened them, only the blonde girl was hovering over the hole above me. _Chihaya_ was somewhere out of sight. I could hear her footsteps crackle on gravel.

“I was named after my great-grandmother. She lived before the collapse, during the good times.” She was thoughtful, and appeared to be pacing back and forth. “Maybe you confused me for her.”

I called to memory what she had looked like. Chihaya, the woman who led a dangerous rebellion. The Chihaya I had known. Not personally, as I could not move and she never would have visited, but nonetheless! I had sometimes been criticized for being _too_ interested in her, too fascinated by her daring, rogue nature. How could I put aside the very antithesis of what I stood for, I had said to defend myself, but in retrospect I did wonder.

Just what had drawn me to her?

Not to be outdone of course, the other girl chimed in, “By the way! I’m Miki.” I was startled by how easily she gave this information up. Even in my time, names weren’t so easily given. She grinned. “We should get you out of this hole. You must be roasting.”

“To be honest,” I said weakly, “I’m not sure how I’m conscious right now.”

Chihaya, the present one, returned into view. She had pulled on a pair of thick gloves, and was peering over to look at me. Her sweater was in tatters. “You’re probably running on emergency power. That will run out soon enough. Miki, give me a hand.”

“Okay!” she chirped, rolling up the sleeves of the loose shirt she wore over her old spaghetti strap top. My eyes caught on her cleavage as she bent down.

A shrill sound ringing in my ears silenced any further thought.

“She’s overheating. We’d better hurry.” With Miki there to ground her, Chihaya lowered herself into the hole. Her arms bridged the gap and I felt her grasp on my shoulders. The sudden contact, something I hadn’t felt since even before I fell inactive, sent miniature shocks through my nerves. I felt dizzy. As she tugged and hauled me out of my resting place, the world around me spun and all the colors bled into each other. The ringing only grew louder and more painful, until I felt the snap of a cord and everything went black.

* * *

When my eyes open again and my surroundings are once again sharp and clear, a tenseness I didn’t know I was bearing in my shoulders melts away. My eyes dart around the room: rubble, grassy concrete, a caved in roof. Sunlight pours in from the gaps and warms my exposed skin. Beside me, Chihaya is rummaging through a toolbox as sweat drips down her forehead. She lifts her head finally, screwdriver in hand, and her brown eyes soften. I never imagined that those eyes would look at _me_ like that. But this Chihaya doesn’t know what I’ve done. Neither of them do, and I intend to keep it that way.

“I see you’re awake,” she smiles. “Miki should be back soon; she’s just off getting supplies.” She lets out a contented sigh and stretches her arms up as far as they’ll go. There’s a fresh oil stain on her battered old sweater. “How are you feeling? I haven’t finished your repairs yet,” she says softly, “but if anything hurts or feels loose I can make adjustments.” Her kind expression is too much for me.

“I think I’m alright…. Ah.”

“What is it?”

I can move my hands. I drum my fingers on the pavement, curl them into a fist and squeeze, and then release. It’s such a newfound sensation after being in that pit that I do it over and over, just savoring it. Chihaya giggles, her tone wholly sweet to my ears.

“That’s not all you can do, you know. Try sitting up.” At her suggestion, I grasp at the concrete to ground myself, and haul my body upward… Except, I don’t have to use that much force at all. In fact it’s very smooth and quick, and I sit there staring at my lap and my hands in awe. It’s definitely been more than seventy years since I could do _this_. “You’ve been out for about two weeks. In that time, I managed to perform major repairs on your motor functions and joints, but… Well, you’ve suffered some incredible trauma, between the collapse of this building and whatever you endured before that. There’s only so much I can do as an amateur.”

An amateur…? I clear my throat. “I do appreciate the repairs, but if I may ask, why the effort? It isn’t as if I can connect to my databases anymore; the servers are all offline. I don’t know how much help I can be without that.” I peer at her through my glasses, which are clear and unbroken but no longer display directions or statistics or anything useful at all.

She looks up at the sky through the break in the ceiling. There isn’t a cloud, only bright blue and sweltering sunlight. A strange bird cackles somewhere nearby. “Would you judge a human harshly, for not being able to sprout wings and fly? Would you tell them they’re no longer useful and toss them away?”

I remain silent.

“I think you’re as good as human. We’re having this conversation right now, aren’t we? We’re sitting here and sharing this space. You’re a new friend. I don’t expect anything more from you than that.”

Staring at her, I hardly believe my ears. What would my Chihaya think of that? Her great-grandmother, who was known to be the fiercest rebel and opponent to my…well, what was supposed to be a utopia. Somewhere it had gone very, very wrong.

“Hey, do you remember your name?”

“…Ritsuko. It’s Ritsuko.”

Where had _I_ gone wrong?

Quick footsteps, the sound of boots scuffing on thin dirt, alert us to Miki’s return. She’s standing at the entrance, panting and out of breath, when she drops her bag full with supplies. There’s a small gun strapped to her hip, and her hand is tousled in her thick blonde hair. Her face is flushed as if she’d been running.

“Miki, what’s wrong?” Chihaya stands up.

“They’ll be here soon. We need to get out.”


End file.
